Juliancolton

97F at POU ties the record high for the day. Real heat, but I won't remember it a month from now and I doubt I'm alone.

The worst of the storms passed just to my north last night, but I still picked up 1.30" of rain. Very happy with that for the sake of gardens and pool level.

Yeah, this wx has me solidly sequestered indoors. I've been doing as many chores and errands as possible in the middle of the night, otherwise they just don't get done.

Agreed, a lot of people don't understand how difficult farming truly is. I know I can't fully grasp all the trials farmers face just by tooling around in my backyard. Strength in numbers is a big part of having something left to harvest, although interestingly, some animals are strongly averse to fresh manure. In talking to dairy farmers down the street who grow hundreds of acres of corn for feed, I learned they spread manure as much for deer repellent as for fertilizer. The math, interdisciplinary science, experience etc. that go into agriculture are staggering sometimes.

Always a gut-wrenching feeling, you have my sympathies. My corn got decimated this year as well but much earlier in the season, so perhaps an easier fate to accept. At one point I walked up to the patch and saw a deer and a rabbit grazing in harmony. 8' high and buried 2' underground is really the only reliable control in this part of the country.

Just hot enough to suck the life out of you but not enough to set records. Terrible.

It's circumpolar now but highest in the sky after sunset. Shoot for 10:30 pm tonight.

Yeah, the tail is holding its own despite the predictably fading coma. Still noticeably less bright than early mornings this past week, but remains impressive. Sad to think it will almost certainly be years and very possibly decades before another comet this bright comes around.

Update... new estimates tonight in Europe as dim as +3.4. Going, going...

Of course. I wouldn't be wasting any time though. Someone notched a mag +3.0 estimate last night so it's fading pretty quickly now (you can keep tabs here). I'm optimistic that we'll clear out enough tonight for a good look at it.

Yeah! I noticed the same thing. It was weird. They're brazen this year. It was in the NE. I could check Stellarium in a bit and let you know precisely, but I'm reasonably sure it was around 7° based on what I recall from pre-planning this week. The deets: D750 + 105mm f/2.8D, ISO 1250 at f/2.8 for 30 seconds. Vixen Polarie used to track the stars.

I took this yesterday morning just before 4 am. Looking toward Breakneck from Storm King mtn. Mornings will still be the optimal observing time for the next few mornings, then evening probably takes the spotlight by the weekend.

Fireflies are definitely facing existential threats from multiple directions, although I think year-to-year variations can be attributed more to microclimates than overall population health. This has been the best firefly season of my life up here in the hinterlands. They came early (first sighted on May 25th) and are still going berserk every night as we head deep into July.

Even the low-level clouds aren't really moving that fast. Watching them just absolutely zip across the sky in seconds stuck with me after Irene... this sure ain't that.

0.18" so far, peak gust 8 mph. We will rebuild.

I think any meaningful winds will probably be hard to come by around these parts. Even the ol' reliable isallobaric component will be fairly diffuse when the low moves overhead.

If it gets named, all you're gonna hear is how it broke 2005's record for the earliest "F" storm... notwithstanding the fact that Dennis or Emily '05 will have generated more ACE in 6 hours than all of our first six systems this year put together.

Yikes. Not good with the threat of a tropical system in just a few days. Only a few tenths here so far, but I certainly don't need the headache of basement pumping.

Alright, who's building arks and who's still watering the lawn?

I'm sure it'll balance out this winter when we get the jack for all the major snow events.

Yeah I've been watching that guy all afternoon. Hopefully it holds together. Edit: latest scans show echoes weakening and the outflow boundary surging out ahead, it's dead Jim

The heaviest stuff stayed just to my east by literally a matter of yards, but still a nice steady dousing here. I'm just on the light blue side of this little isthmus here, so that's, what... 1/8th of a mile to the 1"+ amounts?

The contractor thinks it's an easy job after a first look and could be done for under $5k without draining the pond. The pond construction specialist had to reschedule so still waiting on that opinion, though I suspect he'll tell a slightly more elaborate story. Another bone-dry day here as other areas get drenched.

I figure we're about five, maybe six weeks out from stressed maples flashing their first color. Let's goooo.

It's mostly seeping underneath I think. Nonetheless, the water is back up about 2" this morning after I just absolutely loaded it up with with clay and rocks, so at least the fish genocide seems to be averted for now. Getting some quotes this weekend on having it done the right way. It's all good. There are a lot of folks who have much bigger problems than leaky bass ponds and nettlesome swimming pools. If those are my big sorrows for 2020, I'll be in a pretty good spot.